Genesis 49:1-15

English Standard Version

² “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
    listen to Israel your father.

³ “Reuben, you are ^(C)my firstborn,
    my might, and the ^(D)firstfruits of my strength,
    preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
⁴ Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
    because you ^(E)went up to your father's bed;
    then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!

^5 (F)“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
    weapons ^(G)of violence are their swords.
⁶ Let my soul come not into their council;
    ^(H)O my glory, ^(I)be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
    and in their willfulness they ^(J)hamstrung oxen.
⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
    and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will ^(K)divide them in Jacob
    and scatter them in Israel.

⁸ “Judah, ^(L)your brothers shall praise you;
    ^(M)your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
    ^(N)your father's sons shall bow down before you.
⁹ Judah is ^(O)a lion's cub;
    from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
^(P)He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
    and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
¹⁰ The ^(Q)scepter shall not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler's staff ^(R)from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;^[a]
    and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
¹¹ Binding his foal to the vine
    and his donkey's colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
    and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
¹² His ^(S)eyes are darker than wine,
    and his teeth whiter than milk.

^13 (T)“Zebulun shall dwell at the ^(U)shore of the sea;
    he shall become a haven for ships,
    and his border shall be at Sidon.

^14 (V)“Issachar is a strong donkey,
    crouching between the sheepfolds.^[b]
15 He saw that a resting place was good,
    and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
    and ^(W)became a servant at forced labor.